read a variety of types of text (images, essays, films, articles, poems, stories, cartoons, and multimedia productions);
improve your familiarity with how to use the web and its resources;
reinforce and extend your knowledge of how to write paragraphs that are focused, organized, and developed using specific examples and details;
write about a subject of interest to you and your audience that demonstrates your ability to read a variety of texts with insight;
write with an emphasis on clarity and correctness.
Step One: Decide what you will read.
The Shelf is a place to go for reading ideas. Atop the page, you'll find a link to Daily OpEd (editorials and opinion pieces) and BookGlutton (read and discuss books online). You'll also find links to essays and speeches, short stories, classics, and a ton of other interesting material to sink your teeth into. You can, of course, embrace a paper book or print magazine or newspaper: you don't have to read online.
Step Two: Actively Read the text you choose.
I say "text" because you might choose an image, a web-based documentary, a painting, a poem, or a video essay. Before you begin, jot down some questions about the text you chose, questions that will help you read it better. If you are not sure how to take your reading to the next step, reference Jim Burke's Reading Tools and Tips at the bottom of the right column. To read is to think.
Ask questions;
Make connections: to other texts, to current events or BIG ideas, to personal experiences;
Infer ideas about a character, a theme, a literary element (symbolism, metaphor...);
Notice the author's style--the way he uses words and strings together sentences or organizes his ideas;
Agree or disagree with the author.
Draw inferences from details in the text and how those details compare or contrast with other details.
Step Three: Write a one page blog post that:
is roughly 250 words;
names the text (and links to it if it's online) that inspired the post;
establishes a clear thesis in your opening paragraph;
organizes itself into paragraphs, each with a main idea that relates to and builds on your thesis;
includes examples and specific details from the text you read;
includes a title that helps clarify or even extend the idea of your entry (It should not be anything like, "Journal Entry #1," or "Soccer.");
Read... Think... Ink...
Assignment Overview
Step One: Decide what you will read.
The Shelf is a place to go for reading ideas. Atop the page, you'll find a link to Daily OpEd (editorials and opinion pieces) and BookGlutton (read and discuss books online). You'll also find links to essays and speeches, short stories, classics, and a ton of other interesting material to sink your teeth into. You can, of course, embrace a paper book or print magazine or newspaper: you don't have to read online.Step Two: Actively Read the text you choose.
I say "text" because you might choose an image, a web-based documentary, a painting, a poem, or a video essay. Before you begin, jot down some questions about the text you chose, questions that will help you read it better. If you are not sure how to take your reading to the next step, reference Jim Burke's Reading Tools and Tips at the bottom of the right column.To read is to think.
Step Three: Write a one page blog post that:
Sample Entries
Politicians Can Shove ItA Call to Care
On Cartoons and Mankind
On the Epiphany of My Mediocrity- And Why I’m Feeling Left Out
Useful Education
Judge Carefully
Student sample writing from the creator of this assignment, Jim Burke of San Fransico, California
Rubric
Use this outline and checklist to help you write your thINK essay!